IT has been just over a week since a Noble House Seafoods vessel reportedly capsized offshore Guyana with three fishermen on board and to date, numerous search-and-rescue missions have proved futile.

This has, undoubtedly, left their families in a state of turmoil and as more time passes with no sign of the men, they are losing hope.

Missing and presumed dead are Captain Harold Anthony Damon, 45; crew member Ronald Burton, 78, along with Winston Sam, 46. Their boat allegedly went down on February 19, 2022, some 26 miles from the Mahaica River.

Damon, a father of three, and Burton, a father of 10, are residents of Agricola, East Bank Demerara.

Claudine Welch, the daughter of Burton, told the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday that she is losing hope as she waits with bated breath for daily updates from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), which is spearheading the search operations.

Despite the low probability that the men will be found alive, Welch is hoping for a miracle that they are alive.

The distraught woman is grateful for the regular updates from MARAD, but she berated Noble House Seafoods for still not contacting the distressed families.

Welch noted that she and her family feel isolated and are at a loss because they have not been able to get any information from her father’s employers regarding the circumstances of the incident, or the findings of the company’s investigation.

According to her, communication between the company and the families are basically non-existent.

“I am so petrified, I’m not hearing anything about my father and the company -Noble House – is saying speak to their lawyers and we’re not getting anywhere.

“This is very upsetting and disgusting. Something needs to be done because we’re not hearing anything, were not getting nowhere,” Welch told this newspaper.

Meanwhile, relatives for both Damon and Sam are also distraught that the searches have been fruitless.

Sam’s sister Pamela Sam told this newspaper that the entire ordeal has left her battling daily to keep her blood pressure in check as she continues to develop greater fear as days go by without any information about her brother.

Pamela said that as a result of the situation, she is not just heartbroken, but she is now battling daily headaches and dizzy spells.

Tonszadelle Beckles-Damon, the wife of the vessel’s captain, echoed those sentiments, noting that the ordeal has left her with many unanswered questions, which has caused her significant worry over the past week. Her hypertension level has also since skyrocketed.

NEW FINDINGS
Meanwhile, as the investigations continue, Captain John Flores, Director MARAD, in an invited comment, told the Guyana Chronicle that the search team will be deployed on Monday to investigate what he described as a “hit” in the search efforts on Sunday.

He noted that based on the findings from Sunday’s search, the team has been able to pinpoint a place where a vessel could be. He explained that it is too early to state whether it is the sunken Nobel House Seafoods vessel or another one that has been potentially located.

“We are going to be back there in the morning; we seem to have a hit this afternoon that we deciphered, so were checking it early in the morning to see if it’s that or another wreck or something,” Captain Flores stated.

Over the past eight days, a search-and-rescue team has been trying to locate the missing men. The team has been using a vessel from MARAD and two trawlers from Noble House Seafoods, to aid search efforts.